Twain’s ‘Big River’ Keeps On Rollin’

Saddleback College’s “Big River” is a pleasant enough treatment of the musical that won seven Tony Awards back in 1985.

That the Roger Miller (score) and William Hauptman (book) collaboration did so well on Broadway probably says something about the dearth of competition that year. The play’s hokum-heavy songs are catchy but not memorable. Hauptman’s condensation of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is often annoyingly abbreviated.

At Saddleback, director Phyllis B. Gitlin and her hard-working cast do what they can to take advantage of the musical’s strengths. The production starts slowly and meanders along, which fits with the musical’s hemming-and-hawing style. “Big River” is clearly a show that asks the audience to kick its feet up and sit a spell.

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The action, if you can call it that, takes place on Wally Huntoon’s set evoking the river that Huck (Jeremy Seely), slave Jim (Geryl Anderson) and assorted other drawling characters journey on. It’s a dark, almost lush environment aided by Kevin Cook’s atmospheric lighting.

At the center of this moody setting is Huck, played with a grinning naivete. Seely’s singing can be thin, but he brings vitality to the role. The strongest voice belongs to Anderson, who does a rousing job with Jim’s signature tune, “Muddy Water,” one of the show’s best. Anderson also provides some of the most interesting acting, shading the runaway slave’s plight as he makes his way up north to get money to buy his wife and children, who are toiling on a plantation.

Scott Borden is plucky as Tom Sawyer, but Randy Hatfield’s performance as Huck’s drunken, ruined father slips into boozy cliche. He does, however, put more than a little gumption into “Guv’ment,” a tuneful rant against anything having to do with big or little government.

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* “Big River,” Saddleback College’s McKinney Theatre, 28000 Marguerite Parkway, Mission Viejo. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Ends Sunday. $10-$11. (714) 582-4656. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Lee Cote: Mark Twain

Jeremy Seely: Huck Finn

Geryl Anderson: Jim

Scott Borden: Tom Sawyer

Randy Hatfield: Pap Finn

Seth David Gorelik: the King

Alexander Lepera: the Duke

Heidi Anne Dean: Mary Jane

Kasey Wilson: Alice’s daughter

Elizabeth Kennedy: Susan

Kelli LeMaster: Joanna

A Saddleback College production of Roger Miller and William Hauptman’s musical based on Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Directed by Phyllis B. Gitlin. Set: Wally Huntoon. Musical direction: Carmen Cortez Dominguez. Choreography: Ellen Prince. Lighting: Kevin Cook. Sound: David Edwards. Costumes/makeup: Diane Lewis.